IMPACT THEME: Housing & Homelessness; Health, Wellbeing & Social Care

WHAT THEY DO: Real Lettings is a social enterprise run by homelessness charity St Mungo’s in partnership with us. Three property investment funds have been created with the same social purpose: to help people at risk of homelessness to become more independent, linking stable housing to positive development in other parts of their lives.

The three funds are:

Real Lettings Property Fund (RLPF1) – Launched in 2013, London-focused, and the pioneer fund for this initiative. It is now fully invested and in its eighth year of operations in 2019/20.

National Homelessness Property Fund (NHPF) – Launched in late 2015 to take the initiative to other cities around the UK, it operates in Bristol, Milton Keynes and Oxford. It is now fully invested and in its sixth full year of operations.

Real Lettings Property Fund2 (RLPF2) – Launched in early 2017, in order to continue the initiative in London. It is now fully invested and in its fourth full year of operations.

YEAR FOUNDED: 2005

INVESTMENT AMOUNT: £198.5m

INVESTMENT SOURCE: Real Lettings Property Fund 1 & 2; National Homelessness Property Fund

INVESTMENT PURPOSE: Acquisition of 1 and 2 bed properties, to house homeless individuals and families

QUOTE: Susan Fallis, Director of Real Lettings, said: “Reaching this level of investment shows that the Real Lettings Property Fund model of social investment works. Since the funds started we have been able to help more people escape homelessness by providing a secure tenancy and support from our social lettings agency. As a result, a significant number of families have been prevented from spending long periods of time in unsuitable temporary or bed and breakfast accommodation or having to move outside London away from their support networks.”

DEAL STRUCTURE: 7 year secured loan from the Resonance Property Funds (6% total cost p.a.)

These three pioneering impact investment funds have raised £198.5m in capital and are proving that this model can deliver both financial returns and focused social impact in homelessness, across the UK.

The funds sourced one and two bedroom properties, refurbished them and lets them to homelessness charity St Mungo’s Broadway via its Real Lettings team. Real Lettings lets properties at affordable rates to families and individuals who are homeless or in danger of becoming homeless, and who would otherwise struggle to access the private rented sector.

• Capital raised across all three funds since their launch, and to 31 March 2021 was £198.5m
• The funds are now fully deployed and have purchased 822 properties
• During this reporting period, 1,832 people have been housed, of which 892 are children
• Since the funds launched in 2013 a total of 2,683 people have been housed 

This year's report covers the period of time when the world was in the throes of the global pandemic. This includes our funds’ tenants who have been living with COVID-19 and adapting to the ‘new normal’ for some time now, and the impact it’s had on day-to-day life.

Despite the pandemic, these funds continue to have impact in these four key impact measures:

• Improving Housing Options 
• Progressing Towards Work
• Improving Resilience Against Homelessness
• Stable Housing for Children

These impact measures either improved, were maintained or, where evidencing stress from the pandemic, appeared more robust than some comparable measures for similar socio-economic groups, proving tenants' resilience in a time of crisis.

And with people spending more time in their homes, the pandemic highlighted the importance of having a safe and stable home environment. Homes have become even more central to peoples’ lives – they have evolved to be more than just a safe haven for individuals and families to safeguard themselves during lockdown measures. They are also places where people have worked from and where many have home-schooled their children. Providing a stable base - a decent home to live in – is enabling individuals and families to recover from the pandemic.

So, despite COVID-19, our funds continued to deliver impact. They have continued to buy and refurbish properties, and house and support individuals and families in the right homes for them, in London, Milton Keynes, Oxford and Bristol, providing them with security and stability.